The summer before Chase hit third grade, he came to us voicing his desire to switch from soccer to football. While our reactions are still pretty fuzzy to me (maybe I blacked out!), I can assure you that it was a far less than enthusiastic response! I don’t think either one of us was ready to see our “baby” (he will ALWAYS be “the baby”) play such a high contact sport. The silver lining was that was the summer of 2020, that fall football would look very different … and that was probably a pretty good thing so that we could ease our parental selves into the football pool. It was pretty easy to see just how much he loved the sport from that first practice.
The following summer he got a scratch on the top of his foot 2 days before the season was to begin. He was limping. This year would return to full tackle. I figured that this was our out, if a scratch on the top of his foot had him limping then he would never be able to handle what football would throw at him. Quite honestly, I’m not sure that I have ever actually been more wrong about anything in my life. As he removed his helmet after that first full contact practice all I could see was a giant gleaming smile. He was so incredibly happy, and I knew in that moment we were officially a football family.
I have watched him grow & learn in so many ways throughout this sport. He carefully studies the plays and the roles of each position. He is a smart player and is - through my totally biased mom eyes - the definition of what a true team player looks like.
This is our final season of the sport at the youth level. He has learned so much about hard work, dedication and overcoming barriers through this sport I am forever grateful - so isn’t my hair stylist for all the grey hairs this causes! He is also a good sport for his mother too … as I work on leveling up my sports photography skills he loves to play along. Enjoy some from my birthday session!
